


sweet on you

by invertedrainbow



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Bakery AU, M/M, Pretty much it, rival cupcake bakery au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-04
Updated: 2014-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-11 16:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2075250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invertedrainbow/pseuds/invertedrainbow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Ray owns a cupcake store, and Joel opens one perpendicular to his shop. Ray thinks he should stay away from the Joel as much as possible, but Joel thinks the contrary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sweet on you

There’s this saying that goes, “Do what you love, and you don’t have to work for the rest of your life.” Ray begs to differ. When it comes to baking, as much as you love it, making 300 cupcakes in one sitting starts to feel a lot like work.

He knows he shouldn’t think this way because he got so lucky about it, but starting a business isn’t all unicorns and rainbows. Even as a small cupcake shop at a mellow street in Austin, it gets pretty rough sometimes, especially around the afternoon, when people from all walks of life start coming in and buying a dozen or two for their families.

They get swarmed every day, and Ray wants to think of it as a blessing, but damn.

Creaming for three recipes of Red Velvet isn’t easy. There’s blocks of butter and sugar and eggs and it’s all so analytical because of the measurements though he knows the recipe by heart. He has to think of the consistency, then when put the buttermilk, then the milk, then the dry ingredients, then the red food coloring, how much of it to put in to look like crazy murder…

Then he has to scoop them in this dainty little cupcake pans of twelve and  _oh my god_  he forgot to preheat the oven!

Being awake at 6 in the morning isn’t worth all this, wow.

Before he could trash the whole batter out of frustration, his best friend and constant helper Michael and his wife Lindsay comes entering the store, hands together and sharing Eskimo kisses. It is cute, but it doesn’t help Ray’s mood in any way. They see him on the floor lying on his back like a starfish and he only says, “Forgot to pre-heat the oven.”

Michael immediately laughs as he put on his red apron. While washing his hands, he says, “You’re a fucking idiot,” while Ray only groans more. He grabs the scooper from the counter and continues where Ray left off, while Lindsay cleans off the bowl of the stand mixer so she could start on the vanilla cupcakes.

“Good morning, boss,” Lindsay says with a smile, breathing in. “Ah, I missed this place.”

“Oh yeah,” Ray stands up immediately to help her with the dry ingredients, grabbing clean batches of measuring cups. “How was the honeymoon?”

“She stole my pants the day after the wedding!” Michael rages on, while Lindsay laughed throughout. He tosses the scooper in the sink to wash it.

“Let’s just say we know who wears the pants in this relationship,” Lindsay winks, and Ray points at Michael and laughs. “So, what happened in the past week?”

Ray shudders at the memory. “I almost died without you guys here, god. Tina helps her best, bless her soul, but Christ, we’re down to two people when we’re initially four. I could die.”

Lindsay frowns. “I should have sent Kdin and Caleb or something to replace us then; gosh Ray, I’m so sorry.”

“Nahhh, don’t sweat it. Besides, those two might destroy more than help. Remember Christmas?”

The three freeze at the memory.

—

Ray’s favourite part about the store is the happy mood it always brings him when he’s in there. He is working with his best friends, Tina, Michael and Lindsay, and he feels more than happy to be with them everyday while doing what he loves more than gaming. His regulars are so nice that it breaks his heart sometimes to charge them, but then again, he won’t earn if he doesn’t, so he occasionally gives out free samples for new flavours he tries.

They would often express their envy towards him for being able to make such sublime cupcakes, and he would wave it off as nothing.

“Lucky is the woman who’ll marry you,” one of them tells him very often.

Ray sighs.

—

His cupcake shop started in school fairs and fund-raisers, and soon enough, people started asking when he’ll make his own little shop, so he began saving up for one. He asked around for a perfect spot where he ended up talking to Geoff, the owner of that gaming store a street perpendicular to Main Street. He was picking up a pre-order when he decided to ask, knowing that the area was frequented a lot.

"There’s a space across mine," Geoff pointed out, Ray turning around to look. "I’m not sure about the rent but I’m guessing it’s as high as mine."

Ray sighed in defeat.

"Tell you what. Since we’re close as fuckholes, maybe I can talk to the owner of the building."

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not? The guy is a huge business man but in the end he’s a nerd who owns too many vacant spaces," Geoff grinned accordingly. "Besides, my daughter loves your cupcakes. If you open up a shop across mine, then maybe she can go here as often. Ah, I miss her five-year-old self…" Geoff reminisced. "She says thanks, by the way, for the ones you gave on her birthday. My wife’s a little jealous."

Ray laughed at that. “Oh no, Geoff, save me.”

"Nah, she has this chainsaw thing? I’m encouraged to say no when you ask."

"But Geoff," Ray said dramatically, his eyes wide in horror. "I thought we were close as fuckholes!"

—

Ray never met the owner of the building. Geoff explained that the guy was always like that. He insisted that Geoff pass along his cupcakes in thanks, though.

The next day, Geoff passed along a note:

_Thanks for the cupcakes. They were great. Expect me to buy every time you pay your rent._

—

The very same day the Jones came back from their honeymoon, Ray decides not to go out for lunch and finish the orders for tomorrow instead. They are for Mr. Pattillo, a guy who very often buys cupcakes from him in bulk because his wife, Caiti, is a story-teller in the local library and she would very often give away Ray’s cupcakes to the kids afterwards. They like the banana choco chip one very often, so he’d order bulks of it a week before.

He only saw Mrs. Pattillo once, and he liked her very much because she spoke in a very mellow voice with her Australian accent. Jack smiles at her like she is the sun and he is a sunflower, naturally inclined to be attracted to her. It is a force he can’t help. Ray likes them so much, he’d often give them complementary cupcakes. Caiti would smile at him too, and he could only duck back to his kitchen due to embarrassment.

Upon icing the banana choco chip with his special white chocolate frosting, Michael steps in the kitchen with a cupcake.

"What the fuck, Michael? What did I tell you about stealing from my shop— wait. That’s not mine. Michael, what the fuck?"

Michael looks sheepish when he puts the cupcake down, but tries to explain. “There’s this long line at this new cupcake shop around the corner, right? So I thought, hmm, what’s the ruckus all about? Fuck it, I fucking caved in and lined up the whole break and thus, I got in late. Sorry boss.”

Ray knows there is something odd about that day, and it only strikes him then: his lunch break rush didn’t happen.

"Tina?" Ray calls out when he approached the cashier, and the braided woman looks back with a smile.

"Yeah, doofus?"

"Did we even sell much this lunch break?"

“Uh, no, actually…” Tina tells him, pointing at the barely touched lines of cupcakes. “There’s a new cupcake shop around the corner, apparently?”

Ray quickly enters the kitchen again.  “Michael, tell me all about the other store.”

"They opened today? And their out at that space on Main Street so they’re bound to be seen a lot? And I fucking lined up for a half-dozen box, Jesus."

Ray’s breath hitches. “Please tell me their cupcake isn’t even good.”

Michael stares at the empty box on the trash can. “Uh… Lindsay and I shared the half-dozen so we might have different opinions about it but—”

"Oh my god," Ray groans. "This can’t be happening. How did I not know about this."

"Because you’re a busta, Ray."

"Aww, cheer up, Ray! I’m pretty sure the buzz would ease out after a week or two."

—

After an uneventful day at the shop, Ray knows he won’t be getting many sales after the afternoon rush, so he decides to close up early. He packs a dozen for Geoff and gives it accordingly after closing up.

"This early?" Geoff asks as he does his inventory. Ray is hanging out by the counter, checking out the new releases."It’s barely 7!"

"Yeah, well, this shop opened in the corner. I’ll probably go check it out; it’s kicking me right up the butthole right now," Ray answers. Geoff gives him an assuring smile.

"I’m pretty sure you have nothing to worry about, kid," Geoff says with a pat on his shoulder. "I’ll try asking the landowner about it. He owns that space, I think."

Ray bids his goodbyes when Geoff entertains a group of teenagers asking about the Wolfenstein remake. He gives a small wave before leaving, bracing himself as he walks to the new cupcake shop.

The rush ended hours ago but the line is still long, so it takes him a while before he could get inside. He notices the huge amount of ladies swooning about, and he decides to peer at the cashier to check what the fuss is about.

A guy with jet black hair and a strong jaw is perched in front of the cash register, wearing an oversized hoodie and a small smile. He seems overly pre-occupied with the influx of customers, but sees Ray peeking from his place in line anyway. To his surprise, the cashier gives him an apologetic smile. Ray shrugs and smiles back.

When he reaches the front of the counter, the guy welcomes him. “Sorry for the wait. We currently are low on hands, and most of them are pre-occupied with the love-making that’s going on inside the kitchen, so—” Ray stares at him like he is crazy. “Oh, no, I do most of the work here, no worries,” The guy points at the sanitizer. “My hands are clean.” He shows them up.

"Good to know," Ray supplies glibly. The guy only chuckles.

"So, what can I get you on this lovely evening?"

"Red velvet, to go please," Ray orders, paying immediately. The shop is too bland for his taste and it has this contemporary furniture that looks so intimidating. The walls are splashed white and black and the lights are angled and sharp. It is the exact opposite of his shop and he doesn’t like it.

The cashier immediately gets his order, passing by the kitchen to get something, and to his surprise, his red velvet has a small heart fondant on the icing. Ray’s eyes widen in embarrassment as the cashier winks.

He steps aside to taste it, and when he does, it hits his taste buds like a punch in the gut.

The thing about baking for so long is that he knows exactly what his work tastes like. He has memorized it like the back of his hand, and any slight mistake in his recipe, he can alter immediately. He never tastes his work after at this point, confident enough that he gets it right every time.

Tasting that shop’s cupcake is a punch in his ego because it is too good. So he does what he knows can fix it: he throws the remaining cupcake on the cashier’s face, and he storms out.

When he runs to the bus stop, he is hit by the realization that the cashier is cute as hell, and any chances of him dating the guy are screwed at this point. And he hates himself more for even thinking about asking the guy out when he owns the rival shop that is destroying his own, and he tears up in the bus over the frustration.

That night, he finishes three levels of COD Black-Ops before clonking out.

—

The incident reaches his worker’s ears and they all try to console him about it, but Ray jumps up from the slump like a kid and smiles throughout the day. His regulars ask him about it and he answers the same: “But the cupcake looked good on his face! Can you blame me? The guy is hot as fiddlesticks!”

They all laugh in agreement, which stings more than it should, because it only means that the people he is talking to tasted the other shop’s cupcakes. The new and refreshing taste hit their palate. His cupcakes wouldn’t compare. The only upside is the truth of his statement: that the owner is hot as dicks.

He spends a whole week pretending to smile as he watches some of his regulars leave eventually to buy from the other shop, his heart sinking more and more.

—

A week after, Jack enters the shop with his wife and suddenly his mood changes because they have with them the kids from the library, and they all looked excited to be there. They rushed to the glass case of his cupcakes and pointed at the pretty ones, like the Vanilla one with rose piping, or the chocolate one with red sprinkles.

"I’m sorry about this, Ray; they wanted to have the reading elsewhere. Can Caiti have it here?" Jack asks, a little shy about his request.

"Wait here," Ray says before rushing to the back to get his blackboard display. He writes "Storytelling with Caiti @ 10 AM" and props it outside his store. Caiti thanks him endlessly for it as he high-fives the kids.

He asks Michael to fix an area for the kids while he readies the cupcakes he’ll be handing out. Jack helps him though he insists that he doesn’t, and says that it’s the least he could do.

"You know, there’s a thing you could do for the kids on weekends or such," Caiti tells him as the kids settle on the floor with Tina. A few more kids with their moms enter the store, asking about the storytelling. Ray raises his brows. "You could do the whole "make your own cupcake" day every month and invite the moms."

"Caiti, you are a genius," Ray says out loud, Caiti only giggling in reply. "Thank you thank you thank you."

"I heard you have a competition around the corner. I really want you to know that I’ll be supporting you with this," Caiti says with a smile. "This shop has so much heart, and Jack would always give me cupcakes from this shop when he was courting me, so it means a lot."

Ray could only smile as Caiti excuses herself with her book, feeling too overwhelmed to say anything. Michael pats his back and pulls him to sit with the kids, where a girl perched on his lap to sit, and he doesn’t even fight it. Sitting beside Michael, Caiti starts her story, and the kids’ eyes are filled with wonder.

It reminds him of the first time he is told that his cupcakes are good, and he feels more pumped up than ever.

—

The guilt settles in after a while, because if anything, his regulars are coming back and they are expressing their support for him. So before his guilt eats his insides, he decides to go before the day ends…

But he is bad at confrontations and with people to begin with, so everytime he tries to go there with an apology cupcake, he barely makes it out of his own shop and groans back inside.

"Just fucking do it, will ya?" Michael says as he rolls his eyes. "It’s been eating you for weeks and you’re being a bitch-ass busta, so it’s either you apologize for it, or fucking live with that shit you pulled. Jesus, Ray, pull yourself together, man."

Lindsay helps ease it out, “Stop being a fucking pansy.”

"But I did that guy a solid and made his face even more attractive!"

Lindsay and Michael looks at each other and Ray could only watch as their smiles turn into full-pledged grins. “ _More_  attractive?” Lindsay asks.

"No, I meant—"

"So you dig the owner huh?" Michael asks, waggling his eyebrows. Ray turns red.

"Damnit, no, stop—"

"The guy does look attractive though, don’t you think? His collarbones were popping out of that oversized hoodie he was wearing the other day," Lindsay says, watching as Ray gulps nervously.

The piping bag heavy with icing is slack on his hands, and he is gripping too tight as he tries to pre-occupy himself by icing the red velvets, but he’s doing it all wrong and he’s making a mess and Michael’s laughter is pissing him off, so he drops the piping bag on the counter and says, “Fine! The rival baker is hot and I hate his stupid attractive face! Now, can we  _please_  go back to icing these?”

Lindsay’s laughter is contagious so Michael ends up laughing as well, and Ray has to endure their teasing all day (“Star-crossed lovers, how romantic is that?” “This is like fucking You’ve Got Mail all over again!” “Well, at least we know who creams Ray’s pants.” “Oh my god, Lindsay, I knew I married you for a reason.” “Thank you babe, I’ll be here all day!”), so when closing time rolls along, Ray is more than happy to release them to the hounds.

"Good bye, lover boy," Tina coos when she steps out, and Ray only flicks her off before Tina cackles away.

He sighs and sits alone at his shop for a while. He is fiddling with his phone to check his notifications when the bell on his door rings, and he could barely finish the sentence, “I’m sorry, we’re already closed,” when he sees who entered.

It was the owner of the other shop, looking around with an interested glint in his eyes. Ray could feel his palms sweat and he rushes to the counter to repeat his sentence.

"I’m sorry," He starts off, and the guy shrugs it off before he could finish.

"Nah, that’s fine, I deserved it, after flirting with you."

"No, I mean, uh," Ray stammers. "Yeah, that too, but we’re closed for the day, and uh."

"Oh, fuck, shoot," The guy says, looking at his watch. Looks fancy, Ray thinks. "I’m sorry, should I…?"

Ray smiles. “Nah, never mind. Last one for the day.” He rushes back to the kitchen when the guy calls out, “You haven’t even asked me what my order was!”

Ray rushes back to ask.

"Red velvet," The guy  says. "I’m Joel, by the way."

"Ray," He holds out his hand for a handshake. The guy shakes it with a smirk. "I’m sorry about the other day, I just—"

"Did it make you nervous?"

Ray nods, feeling silly now. He spends a long while thinking about what he should say before saying, “It was good, by the way,” leaving Joel to his spot while he fetches the order.

Back in the kitchen, he could feel his stomach coiling out on his own, and he thinks, maybe he could maintain a healthy relationship with this man. Maybe. So he grabs a red velvet from the last batch they baked that day and hands it out. “On the house,” Ray assures, and Joel digs in.

It is weird, to see a guy you’re supposed to hate with the bane of your existence eat your precious red velvet, perfected over the course of time. And when he finishes it all, he throws the paper mold in the near trash bin and licks his fingers clean and Ray thinks, _fuck. I hate this guy. No questions asked._

“What the fuck are you so worried about?” Joel asks when he’s done with his fingers, Ray notes. “That was sublime and you’re worried about my cheeky new shop?”

Ray hates how it’s making him feel, because here’s a worthy adversary that made the cupcake that he only hopes to achieve, praising his own. And there are knots on his stomach as he looks anywhere else, too shy to admit that it is making him happy. “You don’t have to be modest,” he says. “It’s the best here, but not anymore with you around.” His bitterness is showing, but Joel laughs at it.

“Are you kidding? Have you tasted these?” He points at the display.

“Um,” Ray looks up to him and he regrets it immediately. Holy shit  _he’s still hot_. “N-no, not in a very long while, but that’s not the point here! Christ, I could still taste your cupcake on my tongue—“ And Ray immediately stops himself, turning red as the food coloring he used for the cupcakes.

“Well,” Joel steps closer and Ray ends up backing up to the glass case. “How about you taste your cupcakes in a different way?”

“What—“

And Joel, the guy who owns his rival cupcake shop, has his lips on Ray’s, sticky due to the frosting. It doesn’t change the fact that it felt perfect, the curves of their mouth in the right places and Ray is closing his eyes because he gives up. Here is the guy he’s been thinking about for weeks, reasons of business glazed over his attraction, and he’s admitting that maybe he is infatuated, because this kiss is perfect and he doesn’t want to stop, and he almost wraps his arm around the guy but instead he pushes him off, his eyes blown and wide.

“Dude, what the fuck?!” Ray panics. “What—“

“Ooops,” Joel only says, biting his lower lip in guilt. “I’ll say I’m sorry but I’m not.”

“What are you even doing here?” Ray says finally, founding the courage to stand up against the attractive man. “Did you think you can barge in here and play with my mind so I could give up this store?”

“What, no! Fuck, calm down—“

“If you think you can confuse me even more with that lopsided grin and cheeky aura of yours, then forget it! You’re an absolute ass!”

“Confuse?” Joel parrots back, smiling. “I’m confusing you?”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, I hate you.”

“Hate is such a strong word, don’t you think?”

“ _Get out_.”

And Joel does without a fight, disappearing into the night. Ray has his fingers on his lips and a million and one thoughts are running through his mind, a million related to Joel. He hates it.

He closes up the shop with a blush on his cheeks and runs.

—

“So,” he says the next day when they are prepping for the work hours, “screw being friends with the owner of the rival cupcake shop. He’s a fucking asshole.”

“He came here last night, didn’t he?” Lindsay asks as she scoops the batter onto the trays without looking up at Ray.

“How did you—“

“Well, your face looks like a strawberry, so it’s either he gave you a fantastic blowjob, or you blew him and he shot you on the face,” Lindsay quickly answers, only shooting Ray a quick look to see if she is right. “Or, he kissed you and you liked it and now you want to forget about it by hating him.”

“Holy shit,” Michael says. “He kissed you?!”

“I didn’t—“

“Look,” Michael pulls Ray aside. “You obviously like the guy, okay? So go there and apologize for real this time, and tell him that you liked the kiss, and you’d obviously want to have dinner, or one of those cute little baking dates, I don’t know, make something up.” He pats Ray on the shoulder and smiles. “Come on, Ray, what have you got to lose here?”

“This shop?” Ray answers sadly, and they all come to a dead stop.

—

In the end, he doesn’t go anywhere but work and home, and at some point he starts thinking if it is healthy. His movements become routinely and his workers could tell, but are nice enough not to call him out on it, even though Michael is fuming. He only changes routine when he goes to Geoff’s store to pay rent, as per usual.

“Oh, hey,” Geoff says, grabbing the box of cupcakes. “I’ll buy this one, but yea. You’re not paying to me anymore.” He opens the cash register to grab the payment.

“Wait, what? Why?”

“First of all, you never met the guy ever,” Geoff explains as he munched on a cupcake. “Second, he says so. And I’m just relaying the news.”

“I’m fine with it, but why? This is so weird.” Ray says when Geoff passes the address to him. It is a couple blocks down, and he is requested to come that Saturday, which is four days away. “Are you sure he’s not a drug lord, Geoff?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure he smokes…”

“Geoff, please.”

—

That night, before closing up, Tina reminds him, “Hey Ray, did you do those Vanilla cupcakes for that wedding order tomorrow?”

To which Ray responds, “Oh  _fuck_.”

—

So out of the rush, he forgets to close down the shop as he rushes the order. It completely slips his mind and he starts to get frustrated over it. Michael and Lindsay offered to help, but Ray feels bad for making them work extra hours, so he insists he could do it alone.

It’s almost 11 and he only has half of it done.

He is transferring the batter to another bowl when the bell on the door rings, and he jumps up out of surprise, the batter spilling everywhere and he only has half of it transferred. Soon, Joel is standing on his kitchen door, looking at the mess and a very tired Ray lying down on the floor with batter on his apron and face.

“You know, while I do want to see you like this, I always wanted it in a different way…” Joel muses as he hoists Ray up, the other taking it begrudgingly. “What happened?”

“I was rushing an order I completely forgot about and you entered the store and I forgot to close up, apparently—“

“Ah, I fucked up again,” Joel groans.

“It’s not your fault,” Ray tries to say, but instead all that comes out is, “Yeah.”

As Ray tries to clean up his mess, to his surprise, Joel is wearing an apron and washing the bowl of the mixer. Ray wants to protest, he really does, but there are two realizations he faces at the moment: 1. He doesn’t have a choice if he wants to sleep that night, and even if he has enough ovens to cook them all, if the timing is wrong, he fucks up the cupcakes. 2. Joel looks extremely good in an apron. 3. He is fucked up either way, so why not take the best route?

The rest of the night, he is working with close proximity with Joel as he points out how much of everything he has to put in, and Joel only nods as he works on it. While Ray mans the oven, Joel works on the batter. Waiting for the oven, Ray would work on the Vanilla icing, and Joel would take out the finished cupcakes in Ray’s lieu just to prevent them from overcooking and to cool them down fast.

They were working with so much precision, and as much as Ray would have wanted to deny it, Joel actually moves fast. Soon enough, with their shit together, they are able to finish around 1 AM, with the frosting perfect and boxed up, ready to go.

Ray sighs in relief. “Joel, thank you—“

But Joel is kissing him on the corner of his mouth, licking as he goes. He slowly went to Ray’s lip, licking his lower lip, and Ray does try to fight against it but there is a moan that escapes his mouth and Joel dips in, his hands on Ray’s waist, strategically pinning Ray on the counter.

When Ray comes to his senses, Joel is already hanging the apron up. “You can thank me some other time.”

With Joel gone, Ray realizes he kissed back, and he panics again.

—

Waking up is hell because his head is hurting, so he fumbles around to check where his phone is and sends a quick message to Tina. It takes him five minutes to type it out, and five more minutes to edit it.

_I’ll be late. Please ask Michael to deliver the wedding cupcakes in my stead. Thanks T._

Tina replies 30 seconds later.

_Sure! Quick question: who was with you here last night?_

Ray blushes and ignores the text.

_It’s the cupcake guy, isn’t it._

_Shut up, Tina._

—

He enters the shop around 1 in the afternoon, purposely leaving out the lunch hour rush to keep his sanity on check. Michael and Lindsay are sitting on the counter as they wait for customers, and welcome Ray in the best way they knew how: “You guys  _totally fucked last night!_ ”

Ray shoots Tina a glare. “Thanks Tina.”

“Hey, they asked,” Tina rolls her eyes.

“For the record, we didn’t fuck. We just made cupcakes because  _someone_  forgot to remind me earlier,” Ray is still glaring at Tina, and Tina had to duck to divert the attention. “We didn’t fuck.”

“Dude, chill, we get it, you  _didn’t_  fuck,” Michael says. “That’s why you’re late! Because you were too busy fucking yourself up the ass and  _you fucking limped yourself—“_

“Oh my  _god_ ,” Ray groans, and the three continue to laugh at his misery.

—

Upon closing time, Ray makes it sure that Tina doesn’t overlook any orders for him to rush again. They all walk separate directions to their own stops, and as Ray is walking towards Geoff’s shop, a hand is pulling him aside.

First, he thinks he is getting mugged.

Second, he realizes he’s not when the guy isn’t asking for his wallet. Or bag.

“Ray,” Joel says in between breaths. “Help me.”

“With what?”

“I overlooked an order—“

“Oh my god, are you  _shitting_ me? We just got through this!”

—

They finish the order at 12 AM.

Joel asks if he could kiss Ray this time. Ray says, “Fuck it, my workers think we’re screwing anyway.”

“Think?” Joel repeats as he slides a hand under Ray’s hoodie, and Ray completely freaks out and runs.

—

He enters the shop earlier than expected and makes himself a latte, and while his workers aren’t around to bug him, he enjoys the momentary peace before the guy who he forced to not think about at all in any way ever that day comes a-knocking on the shop, and Ray is so ready to ignore him, but he remembers it’s early February and it’s cold as dicks out, so he sighs and lets him in.

“Latte?” Ray asks.

“No, actually, I’m here to borrow some flour,” Joel answers with a sheepish grin. “The delivery guy got the dates and addresses mixed up, so tomorrow, some fucking store will get a month’s worth of flour.”

Ray sighs. “Why do you always run to me when it comes to your affairs?”

“Well, for starters, you own the same type of shop as I do, so that’s a dumb question, don’t you think?”

“Touché,” Ray says.

“Besides, we have a thing.”

“What.”

“Nothing,” Joel immediately says. “So, can I borrow a sack or two? I can just replace it when they get the orders right.”

He pretends to think about it, and walks over the counter to look at their inventory, even though he knows that he’s well stocked on everything. He wants to keep him in the shop long enough so he could open up late due to starting up with prep beyond schedule. (That, or he just wants to give him a latte and a cupcake or two or three or four, because he looks cold to the bone and Ray can’t have anyone leaving his shop looking like a drenched puppy. Or a hot drenched wolf. Something like that.)

“Fine, you can have some on the back,” Ray says finally. “But.”

“But?”

“Ah, never mind,” Ray says when he leads the way in the kitchen. “It’s gonna suck.”

“Tell me anyway,” Joel urges on. Ray points at the storage room and Joel picks up one sack like it’s nothing, flinging it over his shoulder. “You turn me into a curious man.”

 “Nothing, I swear!”

“Are you sure?”

“Fine!” Ray says finally out of stress. “Stop flirting with me, then!” He watches as Joel’s smile drops and the guy nods, and a part of him wants to shout,  _no, that’s the opposite of what I want, no, oh my god_  but Joel is already walking out, and Ray just ultimately wants to rot on that spot forever.

—

The next day isn’t easier, because apparently, Joel placed the order to his shop, and when he picks it up, he refuses to look at Ray in the eye. He does, however, leave the sack of flour.

—

When Ray walks his way to the address written on the paper, he still feels like crap after pushing Joel away and asking him the opposite of what he really wanted. The box of cupcakes feels heavy on his hands.

It sucks because the guy obviously likes him and he does like him back too, and the only thing that stops him is their rival shops, which shouldn’t even be because Joel isn’t trying to steal his customers away from him. So Ray does what he does best when he’s confronted and the odds are in his favour: he stutters and says the opposite things.

He sighs. Maybe it isn’t meant to be.

Apparently, his landlord lives on the penthouse of one of the highest condominiums in Austin, and he is lead right up to it. When he steps off the elevator, he is met by pristine white walls and accents of gray and black. The sofa is red, contrasting the walls well. Ray looks around to see if his landlord is around.

Instead he is met by Joel with a towel draped on his waist, drying off with a separate towel, and he thinks,  _well, this can’t get any worse_.

“Oh, you’re here.”

And apparently, Joel knows him.

“You’re my landlord?” Ray asks, knowing how stupid it sounds.

“Yeah,” Joel answers glibly, not giving off any reaction whatsoever. “So, the payment?”

“Hey, can we talk?” Ray looks incredibly distracted with Joel’s topless body exposed for the world to see, but he fights through it by looking at Joel’s face instead. “As Ray and Joel, not Ray and landlord?”

“You mean as dumper and dumpee? Why not.”

“Ugh, man,” Ray groans. Joel motions for him to sit on the couch while Ray passes the box to him, Joel bringing it to the kitchen counter. “I should really explain.”

“There’s really not much you should say, you know, I could get a hint,” Joel tells him. “You don’t like me, obviously, though you did lead me on. End of discussion. The payment?”

Ray gives the envelope to him with a frown, and Joel counts the money in front of him. Upon finishing, he says, “You can leave.”

“Joel,” Ray groans. “Talk to me.”

“Then tell me why you dumped me, Ray. Jesus Christ. I thought you liked me enough to actually not think about leading me on like that!”

“I wasn’t leading you on! I just—“

“Ray. Come on.”

Out of frustration, Ray groans out loud and climbs up on Joel’s lap, kissing him the way he wanted to the very first time they did. Ray knows that it is probably the worst timing, just knowing that Joel is his landlord that he’s been sending cupcakes for years now, but he doesn’t know how to make Joel listen. Besides, Joel has his hands on waist now, pulling him down and pushing him on the couch, not even daring to cut off the kiss.

“I fucked up,” Ray sighs out. Joel smiles onto his lips and kisses him further. “I’m sorry, this is getting awkward, I mean, you’re my landlord—“

“Fuck that,” Joel says. “Date me.”

“Yes,” Ray answers happily, and he figures,  _maybe_  they can sort out the details after they kiss.

(But Joel is tugging on his pants and yeah, they’re probably gonna have to wait after sex.)

—

Dating the guy who owns another cupcake bakery on the corner who happens to be your landlord for three years or so is confusing.

Joel insists that he doesn’t pay rent anymore, but Ray hates owing him anything, and besides, Joel is asking way too much for an alternate payment. (“Sex  _every_  night? Do you want me to  _die_  or are you just that dumb?” “Hey, you literally said that I should “do it every night” and I’m just doing you a favour here.” “Oh shut up oldie.” “Hey.” “MAN!” “Damnit, ran into that one.”)

But it’s all been fun. His shop is still as homey as ever, and Michael and Lindsay are expecting their first kid. Jack and Caiti still often brings the kids to his shop when they get jittery in the library, and often times, he would bring the cupcakes himself to the library just so he could listen to Caiti’s stories. Tina is still the best cashier in the world, though she still very often forgets about some orders and brings him hell on earth.

Thankfully, he has Joel to help him at night. (No pun intended.)

Before closing up that night, Joel sends him a text that says:

_Forgot an order. Help me out?_

He immediately rushes to the corner shop and throws his hoodie and scarf on the nearest table, locking the door behind him. When he enters the kitchen, Joel is frosting one cupcake and placing an almond on top of it.

“What are we making?” Ray asks.

“Vanilla almond cupcakes. A new flavour. I want you to try this one.”

Ray accepts it with a smile. “Don’t mind if I do,” he says before biting onto it.

He chews with ease until he feels something hard in between his teeth. He stares at Joel with wide eyes before rushing to the sink, taking the thing out and washing the mush out.

When it’s done, Joel appears from behind him and grabs the thing, going down his knee and propping the ring out in view. All of a sudden, Michael, Lindsay, Tina, Jack and Caiti are in the kitchen with them, looking excited as ever, and he wants to think of it as a joke but Joel is asking, “Ray, my dumb, dumb, dumb competitor, will you marry me?” and it obviously isn’t one.

So Ray is as speechless as the first time they met, barely making out a small “yes” before Joel could slide the ring in and kiss him.

And maybe, life can’t get any sweeter.

**Author's Note:**

> this is really old and my account isn't as dead as u think it is i promise


End file.
